The Mismatch - Can Bam Become Even Better? Plus, NBA News and the Summer Mailbag.

Episode Date: August 1, 2024

Verno and KOC discuss the U.S. men’s basketball team defeating South Sudan and how Bam Adebayo’s strong play can carry over to the upcoming season with the Heat (01:22). They then discuss Luol Deng's personal involvement with the South Sudan team, and Verno explains why the men’s 3x3 basketball team isn’t led by current players in the NBA. Next, the guys discuss the recent news of Gordon Hayward's retirement, Jarrett Allen’s extension, and Luke Kennard returning to the Grizzlies (25:57). Lastly, the guys open up the mailbag and answer some listener questions (34:54). Got a question for Verno and KOC? Send them an email at [e-mail]! Or you can send the guys a tweet @ChrisVernonShow and @KevinOConnorNBA! The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Producer: Jessie Lopez Social: Keith Fujimoto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, football fans, we know that the NFL offseason can seem long and dark, but the Ringer NFL show is here to shine a light on all the big training camp developments and front office news around the league. Join me, Shield Capadia, and a rotating cast of Ringer favorites that includes Noura Preciati, Stephen Ruiz, Austin, Gail, and Lindsay Jones throughout the summer months, and stay up to date on what your favorite team is cooking up for the 2024 season. subscribe to the Ringer NFL show on Spotify or wherever you get your podcast and follow Ringer NFL on Instagram and TikTok and at Ringer NFL on X and YouTube. Welcome to the mismatch. I'm Chris Vernon and joining me on this Thursday morning from the ringer.com is Kevin O'Connor, A.K.A. Kevin O'Bomber, Kevin O'Bomber, Kevin O'Blessarian, Kevin O'Connor. How are you doing this?

Is this our first Thursday morning recording ever? Have we ever done this? We've probably done it at some point over the course of the last several years. Yeah, eight years. USA, USA, USA. That's what I was chanting yesterday as I was watching the United States take down South Sudan, 103 to 86. And Tatum, he starts. Yeah, it's crazy because not a lot of why didn't Joel Embed play. As we are watching this thing play out, M. Bede was the guy that didn't play yesterday. The only one who didn't play.

Halliburton even played. And according to Steve Kerr, Drew Holliday will be back in the starting lineup for the Puerto Rico game. Joel Embed will be back in the starting lineup for the Puerto Rico game. So this is just going to be mixed and matched. The bench unit for this team USA was absolutely unbelievable. They had, and look, say whatever you want about Steve Kerr. He's certainly done right in terms of finding great combinations. And man, did he find one yesterday for the Sudan game?

Drew Holliday and Derek White, along with Anthony Edwards, Kevin Durant, and Bam out of bio. And they were defensively devastating, which of course led to their offense. Their bench outscored South Sudan, 66 to 4.5.5.5.5.5. yesterday. That's crazy. I mean, that unit, like you literally

could not score on them. No. You just can't score on them. I mean, you have two of the best perimeter defenders in basketball at the guard position, two long,

lengthy, tough, active forwards. And then Bam, who's one of the best defenders in the NBA, period. And Bam in that game yesterday, I mean, he's, you know,

posting after the game because Windhorst suggested that he might get his minutes cut. He might be one of the guys, and Bam's like, what are you talking about? after he has that amazing game. Bam is, I mean, it's cool how Team USA, we're talking about Embed, you know, he gets the DNP in that game, and you have, like, people are wanting, should he even be

on the team and rightfully so with questions like that when he's able to choose between France and USA. But you have Embed, you have Anthony Davis, you have Bam out of bio. Like, my goodness, what a luxury for Steve Kerr with these three. Barstment of riches. Yes, these three different types of big men. that you can turn to depending on matchups. And for all we know, BAM might end up starting, you know, a game down the line depending on the opponent.

But I think for Steve Kerr, that is the real, you know, benefit here where you can, A, you have a lot of malls to feed. You can start and play different guys each game to make everybody happy. But B, you also are in a position where you can change your rotations and your lineups and play however you feel like you need to play depending on the opponent. And against Sudan, it wasn't about having an imposing big man who scores down low like Embed.

It was the versatility of an AD of a BAM at a bio. And boy, it sure helps that not only on defense is Bama at a bioversible, but on offense, he hit two threes. We saw the last month or so of the season for the Miami Heat, him shooting threes more often. It's even more of an uptick now for Team USA. That seems like something he's going to carry forward through the Olympics and for the season with the heat. And you also wonder if he's one of those guys that does actually take a big leap,

which even a bigger role. It's kind of been Jimmy Butler's team. We know it is Butler's team, and they've got Butler and they've got a hero and they've got others. Obviously, they added Terry Rozier last year, another guy that gets shots. But you wonder if his role shot attempts focal point becomes even greater going forward, that that starts to become he is treated. as the guy, you know, because there's going to be a transition with the Miami Heat going forward and kind of where does Atabio fit in that. And this is certainly going to pay great dividends, just him being around all of these great players. And sometimes it is even a little bit later in their careers and when we have gotten used to guys that they actually become the fully formed player that they were going to be. I mean, he has always been.

You talk to other players, and they think he is so talented. They think he's so great. And now, you know, they got that rookie Kalil Ware that's going to be alongside him. Another big who can space. Maybe. Really? The point is maybe the best of Bam Out of Bio is truly yet to come. I think that's, I think that's highly likely.

I mean, he just turned 27 years old. And he's somebody who has improved in subtle ways every year. It's been like a very natural trajectory that you see from players. It's not like a sudden leap. He's gotten better every year, step by step. And I think this is the past year where he actually finally started shooting threes. It's something that Heat fans have won in a long time. First, they wanted him to become more aggressive.

He became more aggressive on a more consistent basis. Then they wanted him to start shooting more threes. Well, last year, he finished the year shooting really strong. It didn't carry over into the playoffs, but small sample, who cares? and now it's working for Team USA. I think for the Heat, very clearly, what they're trying to do with Kellewere at that draft pick in the first round and with Bamatabio developing threes,

is the Heat want to be a team that can have two bigs on the floor but have five shooters out there. Because with Bametabio and Kalelewhere, if those two guys are successful in being effective three-point shooters, you can have two bigs that can play inside, can play outside. And I think right now anybody watching Team USA seeing Bam shoot threes, this is something that happened to end the season. This is something that's going to happen even more so to start next season.

And so when you talk about the Miami Heat with what they can be, I think Team USA is a little glimpse into, hey, maybe this team actually isn't done yet. Maybe this team is actually ready to be something different. Maybe Jimmy Butler takes the regular season seriously. maybe maybe this team gets even better moving forward in part because of bams improvement yeah and it's fascinating because one of the things that we have talked about so many times and it came to kind of the apex with the ages of tatem and brown and then finally winning a title is we've talked about for whatever reason that 26 27 28 truly becoming guys prime but we at that point don't feel that way because in some

many cases, we're seeing these guys come into the league when they're 18 and they're 19 years old. So we've already watched them for eight or nine years before they're actually hitting their prime and actually becoming the best version of themselves. It's like, oh, we know what that guy is. We've been watching it for eight years. And when you say something like, Bam out of bio is 27 years old, I think most people are probably like, wait, what?

I feel like I've been watching Baylorio forever. I know, I know, but he's only, he's only that he's just now starting what is typically guys prime years, which are like 27 to 31 is when you're really kind of, and some obviously greatly extends said prime, i.e. many of the players that are on that team. I think you look around and you go, geez, wheeze, it's going to be eight years. Bam out of bio is Kevin Durant's age and Steph Curry's age and 13 years until he's going to be LeBron James age. I mean, it is kind of wild to think about it through that prism. But those guys like Booker, like Bam, that kind of age bracket, you know, it's very, very possible the best

versions of them are yet to come, though we have seen them on big stages. We've seen them in a lot of playoff games. We've seen both of those particular players in NBA finals already in their careers. Great team, though. And I want to take a moment to talk about South Sudan. So, I was so impressed by this team, just so incredibly impressed. I've got a real soft spot for them, so they obviously did not have enough. The depth is so overwhelming for Team USA. But these dudes don't give up and they keep fighting and fighting and they like play with true pride. And the reason I've got a soft spot for them is because about maybe a year and a half ago, I think it was.

There's a Martin Luther King Day game that's a very special day where the National Civil Rights Museum honors some different players with Legacy Awards or different athletes or people involved in sports. And there's been all kinds of great. and it's given me the opportunity to sit down with all manner of people over the years. Not the least of which was about a year and a half ago, Lou Alding was one of the honorees. And I sat down with him and I talked to him about really his whole life and also the work that he was doing then with NBA Africa. And to see what that program has become.

And the reason I'm highlighting this is because, you know, they have had a tremendous conflict there. They've had these civil wars. And there was a civil war when he was a kid. His family gets displaced to Egypt. I don't know how many people know the Lualding's story. He goes to Egypt. They then beget political asylum. They are granted political asylum.

And he ends up in London, England. Then at 14, he comes over to the United States to person. sue basketball and at this, you know, multi-million dollar 15-year career after he had a really a good college career at Duke and gets drafted very highly. After his 15-year career, he says, hey, I want to, I want to dedicate a lot of my time to this NBA Africa and I want to give other kids the opportunity that I ended up having and there's so much talent and there's so much athleticism and there's so much want to there but they just don't have the resources. This is one of the least developed countries in the world, in the world.

And they recently, I mean, their last Civil War just ended in like 2018, like five, five, six years ago. And a lot of those guys that are on this team now are also guys that ended up getting displaced. But he thought to himself, if I could ever get all the guys from Sudan, even the ones that have been displaced, if we could all just rally them together, we could have a really good team. And so they end up qualifying for the world's last year as the best African country that was represented and now you see them in this Olympics where they won a game. Royale Ivy's coaching them. And he's funding the entire thing.

He's like assistant coaching. He's the president of the program. He's running the whole. It's truly like a Disney movie, somebody making this. I mean, what he has done and then to watch that team yesterday, they're so outgunned. They're so out, man. They're playing against like what? At least four, five, six of the 75 best players in NBA history.

And he's thrown this whole thing together and they are competing their ass off over there. Like, it is such a great story. It truly is. And so, you know, obviously I want Team USA to win. But I got a real soft spot for that South Sudan team after meeting and talking to Lu al-Dang. And this is like a dream of his that we're watching unfold. And I almost don't think it's gotten enough attention what he has pulled off there. He's funding the whole thing.

It's his money out of his pocket. And they are in the friggin Olympics playing against Team USA. It's crazy. It's a crazy story. It's a real story. It really is. It's seriously a movie. Yeah.

Because these guys, like, he got displaced. He wasn't even able to grow up in his own country. Most of those guys got displaced because they're in the middle of a frigging war. Yeah. A civil war going on, you know, before they got their independence. I just see the movie like it starts out with the scene of his childhood or something like that. Unbelievable. And then it goes 25 years later.

Yes. And they're good. Yeah. Like if you watch them yesterday, I'm like, damn, bro, they would beat a lot of, you know what I mean? They play together. They play hard. They hustle. I mean,

they pass the ball. They can shoot the hell out of a three. Yes. Yeah, they play, play really well together. They're a fun team. And they also play with this insane pride of country.

Yes. You know what I mean? Like, I think they truly feel like they are representing something much bigger than themselves. Mm-hmm. You know, and that there's a future.

And yes. There's no question. You're going to look up. 12 years, 16 years, like that the teams will be even stronger from little kids right now watching and feeling inspired. For sure. Yeah. For sure. It does feel like that the spirit they play with, it's like it is bigger than themselves.

There's no question. I think we could look up and you're talking like 15, 20 years and we look back on this moment. And we go, you remember when that, we remember when that dude funded the whole thing out of his own pocket. to make this happen and look at them now. It's like, man, you don't want to see Sudan in the Olympics. Yes, an influx of players from South Sudan, from South Sudan, right? Or players going to college basketball and getting an education or playing overseas. It might not all be NBA players, but there will probably be more high-level athletes who

say, I want to play basketball because of this team right now. And all those guys on that continent, where they get involved in NBA basketball that are like, oh, this is a different world now. Yeah. Right. It's pretty cool. Because there's no telling. It's crazy. Shout out Lou Aldeang.

How cool is that? I wish Lou Al Deng would pay out of his pocket to fund our three-on-three program in the United States. What a debacle. With our mailbag, we got a handful of three-on-three questions. Like a surprising amount of three-on-three questions. And everybody had the same question. Why are they not current NBA players on this team? Why isn't Jalen Brown on this team?

Why isn't Kyrie on this team? I've got a great explanation. Okay. So the way this works, because I watched the three on three, it's one of the things that I did. On a side note, as a big basketball fan and someone that grew up like many other kids playing in the neighborhood and playing in their backyard, I can't love this more. It is awesome to watch. It is half court with the three point line. It's ones and twos.

You play to 21 when the other team. When the other team misses, you've got to take it back to the three point line. It's just like backyard basketball, except you're watching with better players. And there's no question. I mean, Jimmer's on that team. And he's the one that anybody would recognize. But as I'm watching it, I'm like, oh, this could become a big deal, especially if, like, on the women's side, they've been a debacle too. but like, hey, Levin, Liff, who's a famous college player's playing there, some others.

You aren't, I went and looked because I had the same question many of our listeners did. What the hell? Like, I was thinking, just retired guys, right? Like, why the hell is it like John Wall playing in this? Or any of those guys that are in the big three? Or, like, they're playing in the big three, they're playing three on three basketball. Like, what are we doing here? And there is FIBA, like, sanctioned three.

on three events that they have, and you have to have played in X number of said events in order to qualify for the Olympics and be part of that team. And so in the absence of being part of those qualifying events, you can't just throw a team together. Like, we can just throw a team together. And if you, if you didn't play in the worlds and you didn't play in this other stuff, it doesn't matter. You can still, I could still send Steph Curry to go play for Team USA.

But I cannot in three on three. They had to have been a part of the qualifying and a part of the events leading up to the Olympics. So that being said, we're in absolute crisis mode because now it's gotten headlines everywhere. Now everybody sees it. And so maybe it won't be Grand Hill. But somebody in Team USA is having these discussions and has already had these discussions and saying, never again. And we've got four years before LA and however mode of operation, whether we're going to do it with NBA players that want to do it,

with young players in the NBA, whether we want to do it with college players, whether we want to do it with retired players. We're not getting embarrassed on a national stage in basketball again. This is, we didn't realize that this is what was going to happen. And we couldn't just send Canyon Berry and Jimmer, Ferdet, and whoever. them go get a win. And this is not a great representation of basketball in our country, even if it is three-on-three basketball, and we should be able to field the best three-on-three basketball team. And I would imagine, especially because the Olympics are in the States next time around, by the time we get to Los Angeles, our three-on-three team is going to be ridiculous.

This will be the crisis moment. This will be the last time this ever happens. And by the next time around there will be a plan to have a great three on three team i think everybody thought it was going to just fall under the radar nobody would even give a crap but now everywhere you turn it's like team us a three on three loses again it's like wait what it's fun as hell to watch and i i can dream big in terms of like the type of teams you could put together oh it'd be so fun okay it's it's limitless possibilities what do you think about it it really is the amount of types of teams you can put together. Would you come to L.A.

for the Olympics in 2028? That feels like a fun, fun family activity. Absolutely. If I can, yes. Yeah, bring your son out or maybe your whole family. But I mean,

I think that would be, I would love to be, that would be pretty amazing. I'm excited for it. It's going to be great. You think about even like these young players in the league, like the ones that aren't part of Team USA right now. You were talking about some of the old guys.

Or you could have literally the top three picks of the whatever, 19 draft. You could have John Morant, RJ, well, I guess RJ Bears, Canadian, but you could

have John Morant Zion Williamson and Palo, you know, playing in this thing together or whatever. You could find all different combinations of guys

that could represent Team USA in this. And on the other side, right, what a missed opportunity if the team, and look, Don Staley has said

it's a missed opportunity for them not to have Caitlin Clark there. Oh, big sign. What if, If Caitlin Clark was busting ass in three on three. No kidding.

It would be the highest rated event. Everybody would be like when does three on three women's basketball play? It's undeniably a massive mistake. Like the ratings for those games are like a quarter of Team USA men's games. Like Caitlin Clark also has had an amazing season for the fever. So yeah, it's a missed opportunity. I was in Target the other day. And you know I'm a big sports cards collector.

So I went over there to look. I was going to go wimby chasing. So they had some of these boxes that have the wembies in them. And interestingly enough, we got two of them. So that was great. Between me and the kids. And so anyways, while I'm there, they got all different kinds of boxes, right? They got baseball boxes.

They got hockey boxes, whatever. But I look over and there's this whole row of boxes. Anybody can see this when they go to the store. And I have not seen this. And I believe when I went and looked it up, the last time Panini, the sports card people did this, was Kobe. There is an entire box that has Caitlin Clark on it. And every card you get in the box is a Caitlin Clark box.

She has her own basketball card set. I've never seen that. I think they said Kobe was the last person. Wow. Every, you see it. Anybody that goes to Target, go look where the sports cards are. There is a whole box of Caitlin Clark cards. And I was like, hold on.

I looked at it and it says every card is a Caitlin Clark card. Some different variation of a Caitlin Clark card. I'm like, that's crazy. She's got her own basketball card set. That's insane. Where you can open packs and every card you get is a Caitlin Clark. This is, this is the, level of fame. I can't even understand.

That's crazy. Crazy. But anyway, no, if she was playing three on three, oh my God, I don't care if that thing was at four in the morning. I'd get up and watch the damn thing. Watch her bust it because that would be even more fun because you're not at the mercy of playing time. You're not at the mercy of, right, your teammates. You're just cooking. And, oh, man, that would be fun. And so I think one thing we know about this, it's almost better that they weren't able to win by just sending whoever. Because now it's like a national embarrassment on both sides.

And so then by the next time, which is going to be in America, we'll have like loaded three on three teams. And my prediction is people will absolutely love it. It is fun to watch, man. And if you could watch some of your favorite players or more recognizable players playing, they would, people would love watching that. I wonder if three on three in the Olympics also increases the popularity of the big three. Like this is work hand in hand.

Like the scene. Unfortunately, I think Team USA needed to be better. I agree. You know? Yeah. In order to have that impact. Maybe in 28 if Big three is still, you know,

clicking and going strong. At that point, maybe the popularity increases even more because big three games are fun. And like you said three on three on the Olympics is fun. Three, big three is fun. I mean, I'd like to go to a big three game live. And I have not been to one of those events.

I think it seems like a fun atmosphere. Yeah. Well, and you just can't believe who all's in it. Yeah. You're like, surprise, you show up and you're watching Jeff Teague and Joe Johnson or somebody,

you know? It's like, oh, like you know the participants. Yeah. These aren't just guys. You know the participants that are taking part in that. Just pulled up the schedule right now.

I'm sure they're coming to L.A. Yeah, it's started in June. And then there's some weeks here in August, Already August. Crazy. San Antonio, Nashville, Boston. That's the final three weeks.

They were in Oakland to start the year. And, yeah. Anaheim was the closest, not quite L.A., but close enough in Anaheim. A couple other NBA news, things that I'll just hit real quick. Gordon Hayward retired this morning. That was the first news that I saw. Look, we don't have to get in some deep Gordon Hayward discussion. I do want to ask you,

When, this is interesting. When you think of Gordon Hayward, what's the first thing that comes to your mind? The first thing I think about is obviously the game where he snapped his leg, right? And it was in the ringer offices. We're all watching TV opening night, Celtics Cavaliers, and Jonathan Charks was sitting right next to me. And when it happened and when it was apparent. that Hayward suffered a devastating injury. Charks turns to me and a couple of others

who were just sitting there and he says, there's this quote of mice and men. He says, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. And he just says that. That's what I think about. It's just how he was talking about the Celtics have this big plans,

this big off season, and then on, boom, opening night, it's all over. And it's the truth. It became a meme with the, oh no, and Jay Crowder, like, isn't it? Yeah, it became a meme. That was before it became a meme. That was like literally in the moment when they're still showing the replays on TV Charks

turns and says that. That's what I think about. I think about that and then the happy moment, his times at Butler, the almost half-court buzzer-beater shot with Brad Stevens on the sidelines. I think about those two moments. So, I mean, not the happiest moments for Gordon Hayward as what I think about. But, yeah. It's crazy.

You say that. It's still, though we had a very good NBA career that was riddled by injury towards the last several years of his career. The first thing I think about is the Butler shot. Yeah. It's so odd because of where college basketball kind of stands within the context of, you know, I don't know. I don't know if that was. it still felt like college basketball was maybe it's just that moment. He almost took down Duke.

They were such a Cinderella. And I feel like maybe we've been spoiled by Cinderella. I feel like, I don't know. It was all like so special in that moment. And it's seriously like every March, it comes back up and they show it. And you're like, oh my God, that would have been the greatest sports moment. If that thing drops and Butler beats Duke in the national championship on a half-court banked shot by their best player, it's honestly one of the greatest, what might have been in the history of sports. And like, when I see Gordon Hayward, I still think of that damn Butler shot.

Yeah. Yep. I mean, alternate universe. It's that big a deal. Alternate universe, he hits the shot. And everything changes. Different world. Yeah, seriously.

Yes. Yeah. I mean, it is, I mean, I just pulled up the box score. I kind of forgot. Like, I forgot that game. A dud of a game. Yeah, it was a dud of a game. Hayward was two for 11 in the game, like two for 10 leading up to that shot.

I kind of had forgotten that. You just remember the shot. But yeah, it was a dud of a game. Yeah. How about some of the names on the roster on both sides? Shelvin Mack, Ronald Norred on the Butler side on Duke, Kyler, Miles Plumley, Andre Dawkins, remember him? Oh, wow.

Nolan Smith, John Shire, who now, you know, coaches the team. Kind of crazy. It is crazy to think about. Starting on that team. A couple other bits of news. Jared Allen got a three-year $91 million extension. We talked earlier in the summer about a reunion with his former coach. a guy that at least in part might have not become his coach because he played him over DeAndre Jordan.

At least that was a narrative at the time. So you know Kenny Atkinson has used Jared Allen very well before, helped with his career early in his career and has a fondness for Jared Allen. They still got to figure out the whole Mowgli Allen thing. But I don't think locking him up at that contract, he's got one of the best. contracts in the world right now, given his production and talent level, locking him up at that contract doesn't make him any less movable if you do come to that. And I think probably a really smart move by Cleveland, whether or not you still, you know, whatever the future holds, you know it's going to be a team with Donovan Mitchell in mind now. But whatever the future holds

on how the, they'll give it a run with Atkinson to see how the Garland, Mitchinson, to see how the Garland Mitchell, Mowgli, Allen thing can all work. But even if it doesn't, that is just still, Jared Allen at $30 million is a great price in a couple of years. And for what it's worth, he can be traded this season. January 31st is his trade restriction date. And so in the same way that we've been talking about, Laurie Marketing, his signing date for Utah to keep him eligible to be traded before the season, Jared Allen signed early enough

that he could be traded. And obviously if you're Cleveland at that money, it's a good value contract. He's a very good player. You'd like to keep him. But we'll see how things pan out between Alan and Mowgli because things look damn good with just Mowgli out there to close the year. He looked like he was about to take a leap. I also think he becomes even a better asset with a $30 million contract. Oh, for sure.

You know what I'm like he's even a better asset to me? Because you wondered what's he going to get paid the next time around locking him into this and giving him the 90 million. over three years. It's like, geez, Louise, you can find a, you can find a lot worse players

at that price, and especially when we're going to get into the age where these guys are making all NBA teams and getting paid $80, $90 million. Paying a third of that for your starting center, who's one of the better ones in the NBA? Good deal by them.

Luke Kinnard finally signed his deal with Memphis, one year, $11 million. Took a haircut because there's a team option for 15. They didn't have it. Or, I mean, they didn't pick it up. And then, you know, I think we talked about this with Tyos Jones last week. Like the market just, you know, this late.

It just isn't there in the same way. And there was a mutual interest, obviously, and every team needs shooting. Memphis wanted to bring him back. He wanted to stay in Memphis. I don't know many people know, but he's got, he had his first kid last year. This is driving distance of the grandparents. And so they wanted to keep him. the more spacing you can create for great players like Morant, the better.

And they were really good with him and Bain on the floor with Morant, even in the playoffs against the Lakers a couple of years ago. And so there's very few guys in this kind of like NBA middle class were kind of gotten to the point where you've got the people making tons of money and people making little money. You know, it's not so common that you see the $11 million salary, right? They're just not a lot of those anymore. And so they'll keep for a year.

And you're seeing some of these guys that are doing the bet on themselves play it out for a year. And then try to cash in next summer, TV money's going to hit. And, you know, there'll be a better market next year for a lot of guys. And then Precious Situa also. So we got three bet on yourself, one year deals in the last week that we've done this show. Tyos Jones, Luke Knaar, Precious Situa. and there's been others as well. But I think, you know, there's that first flurry at the beginning.

And I think his time was going on, it's like, we'll just wait until next summer for a lot of these guys. There's still guys hanging out there. It'd be interesting to see how many one-year deals get signed. I would imagine there's going to be several more that are just going to latch on to different teams for a year and try to up their value and have a great season, don't you think? Yeah, I would think so. If you look at the available free agents now, there's still a lot of like NBA players on that, like that are very easily going to be in teams rotations. It's kind of odd the way this free agency has played out. But, you know, we got about a month and a half till all the training camps and everything start getting going.

And so we'll see what happens with the remaining guys. All right. What kind of questions we get? Do we get any good ones? We got a lot of good questions. All right. A ton of good questions. Almost too many good questions that we don't.

enough time to answer them all. So some will spill into next week. If you want to hit us up, message us at NBA mailbag at gmail.com. NBA questions, not NBA questions, life questions. Doesn't matter. Hit us there. NBA mailbag at gmail.com. Let's start out with a question about the Minnesota Timberwolves from Michael, from Mike.

He said, there's a lot of talk about a town's trade being the only best option for a new roster construction. is there another way you can see the wolves taking a step forward without trading cat now i think this question from mike is interesting because one of the losses minnesota had was kyle anderson who you have mentioned is you know kind of i think you said is one of the more underrated losses of the offseason plug and play plug and he's just a good he's a good player to have on any team exactly and i think for minnesota it's about those young guys you know last year you know Wolfs fans busted on me because I was saying, you know, trade cat, you know, make space for

Leonard Miller. But I do think Leonard Miller and then their incoming rookies, Terrence Shannon and Rob Dillingham, to me, it's not about the move. The move has already been made. The draft pick last year, the draft picks this year. It's about those young guys continuing to ascend and outperforming the fact that their first, second year players, in addition to Ant making a leap. But I think with Kyle Anderson going, leaving, you need Leonard Miller, Terrence Shannon, and or Rob Dillingham to be something. I agree with you. I do not look at this as a transaction team. I don't look at this going, they need to get better and they need to move cat in order to get better.

I'd run it back. I'd run it back with their team. You know, you get these two years with the second apron before the penalties are going to be kicking in. And so most of these teams have two-year windows. You're going to get internal improvement. with Edward. He's going to be one of the best players in the entire NBA. It's a whole other out. You know, they really lost on the whole, that was their first time to really get to run through with having both Towns and Gobert because they lost that first season

of having Townsend and Gobert together because Towns was out the whole time. And so you don't have as many games as you would think. And, you know, they were top seed last year by getting to do that. They were a top seed by getting to run that team. And so I would say, look, you've got most of the major components. I loved the two draft picks that they're at. And I actually think those guys could be helpful and play. And so I don't think I'd be looking at it right now going, hey, I need to improve. I think you're counting on the internal improvement. And improvement comes from going through what they went through these last couple of years. You know, we always talk about playoffs. scars that teams don't win immediately.

And I think for them, for Oklahoma City, for others, you are going to see that it's going to reap real benefits that they've been in those positions. And they just pulled off beating the BEMith in Denver last year before falling short. And by the way, they demolished Phoenix, demolished it. So I don't look at it. I go, man, Anthony Edwards isn't going to get anything but better. better going forward. And that's your best guy.

And now you've put him in even more high pressure situations. And you've added a couple other good players that are young players. I would put the whole, we need to make a trade way to decide. I don't think this is a transaction team. I think this is an internal improvement team. And I think you're going to be in the mix with a chance to win the Western Conference. I agree. From Patrick.

He says, I've been tracking in insane. Statt for Pelicans forward, Trey Murphy, the past two seasons. The past two regular seasons and games in which Trey Murphy is active, when Trey Murphy attempts eight or more threes, the pelicans are 44 and nine. When Trey Murphy attempts seven or fewer threes,

the pelicans are 27 and 52. Patrick says it seems pretty clear that his involvement in the offense directly leads to winning, but Willie Green loves Brandon Ingram too much to bench him for Trey. my question for you is I can have to worry about that well ingram has yet to be traded should the pelicans just try to

dump ingram at this point even if they have to attach an asset or take back a bad contract I think the answer is no to that you don't want to just dump him for nothing but I do think it's an interesting thought here with Trey Murphy because he is a really good

player and it took a long time for Willie Green to start feeding him more three so what do you think that they should do with Ingram. Should it be an urgent thing for them to get rid of Ingram, in part because of Tray Murphy. Yes. I agree. I've never liked the Ingram Zion mix anyway. I like the Murphy's Zion mix, because again, whenever you've got great players, you want guys being able to create space for those great players. And Murphy does that. He stretches the floor all the way out to the three point line. And this is something that Ingram doesn't do. By the way, he could not score on Luw Aldi. He couldn't do anything. when he was left to his own devices in the playoffs. Say whatever you want about it. He just couldn't.

And that mix, you can't do anything with McCollum, and that mix with McCollum. And now you're adding Dejante Murray into the mix, right? No. It's not a fit. It's too many ball handlers. Too many. The roster, I mean, I think for New Orleans,

there's some logic to keeping a room into the season. There's even some logic to it. extending him at a fair amount because that could increase his value in the same way we're talking about Jared Allen. He gets re-signed. It could have increased his value. Resign Lowry-Marcona in Utah. It could increase his value. Re-signed Vernon Ingram for $20, $25 million. That could increase his value. But for the Pelicans, it's another year with Zion Williamson, where you want to try to optimize him and make the most of the situation that you have. If you have Zion and Ingram and McCollum and the

Jean-Den-Murray all in the starting lineup. I don't think that roster makes a lot of sense. You get to remove one of those ball handlers or even two of them. That's what gives space for Herb Jones, for Trey Murphy, and some of these other guys, you hope Jordan Hawkins gets better in his second year. Guys like that that are kind of these fillers

and amplifiers around your star players, that balance just makes way more sense than what the current starting four of the five looks like right now. It's always, look, it's stars and role players, and you're trying to, like you said, Amplify. We're even watching that, Kevin, Team USA. Look how amazing Derek White has been for them.

That's why they got him. That's why they chose them. They need role players. It's pretty clear why they got him, right? For sure. Yeah. For sure, but you need guys like that. You need guys that are going to keep the ball moving and play a role when you're even at the

highest level on a team U.S. S.A. There's still got to be role guys. Oh, 100%. Right. And it's like, he's not a role player. None of those guys are role players. None of them. No. No. So it's like, okay, here's the easiest thing to do. So, yes, I would move off of Brandon Ingram and make room for more Trey Murphy. Yeah. I look forward to seeing how that resolves very much because they still have some picks to play with too. I mean, if they wanted to trade up and attach him with picks, they definitely could do that. How much money did Lu Al Ding cost him? Oh, my God. Seriously. just being one inch from his face the entire not luall dang oh oh my god what did i say lu gins doort i keep saying dink i had ding in my i had ding in my head because of the i just let i let it go the first time because people know what you mean but yeah yeah yeah i'm sorry

lew door lu all loo yeah yeah it's understandable but no same way yeah door just cost him 100 million $1. Yep. Question from Omar. I have a hypothetical question from San Diego. Beautiful San Diego. He says, if you're an NBA player,

Kristen Kevin, which career path would you choose? One, All-Star, made a ton of money, great stats, but never won a championship and you were a journeyman, no attachment to any organization.

Or two, be a well-known role player, a seventh or eighth guy off the bench. You're never an all-star, low averages with minutes and scoring, but you're a great locker room guy, a vibes guy,

you played for your favorite team, you made 30% less than the All-Star, but you win five rings, and you're a fan favorite. Which career path would you choose? I made 30% less? No, 30% of what the All-Star made.

Oh, 30%. So 70% less? Yes, so if the All-Star made $100,000, million, you made 30 million. Man, I wish there was a, I mean, obviously the quick answer is, is there something in between? Well, I mean, so here's the thing.

I certainly, I certainly want to win. But if the All Star makes 400 million, you made 120 million. And I've got five rings. And you got five rings. So I'm like, and you're a fan favorite. And you play in your team of your choice for your whole career. To me, I think career, too, is, is where I'd want to go. I mean, so, obviously.

120 million is a hell of, like, role players make a hell of a lot of money. Luke Car is like 11 million this year. The money's not the same, but obviously it's like, would you rather be your guy James Harden or like Robert Orry? Yeah, exactly. Would you rather have a private jet or still fly first class with your whole family? No question, no worries for the rest of your life. I think first class I'd be happy just doing that. I wouldn't need a private jet.

It's okay. nice to have, but I don't need one. I'd go too without a question. You'd rather have the titles. Yeah. I think there's something lasting and fulfilling about that rather than being a player who bounces organizational organization and even though you're an all-star, a great player, maybe even make the Hall of Fame, right? Because we're still assuming you have generational money, right? There's a limit to the money

and the accolades that are going to fulfill you. going forward. I mean, let's just like pull up an actual real number. It is certainly more fulfilling to have that level of success in what you did. Yes, exactly. Right. But, but, but James, just a matter of, do you view it as individual success is greater than team success? Yes. Well, the, the example he gave, Omar gave was James Harden. He has $340 million in career earnings. 30% of that is $102 million. I mean, I'd be okay with $100. I would too, even after taxes. And I'm winning and I end up.

You're saying, you didn't say like a title. Five titles. You said five titles. Yeah, okay. I want the five titles. I want the five titles. I want the five titles. I mean, if you've got five titles, you're also, by the way, in a class of player that is, I mean, much, much different than your peers over the last 80 years. For sure. Your name is way up those lists forever about most. most championships ever. And what you can parlay that into post career. Absolutely. You could be a local TV announcer.

You could do a whole bunch of stuff. You can sign autographs and get paid for it. How about making money? Hey, Kev, you could coach the Golden State Warriors and Team USA. True. We didn't get into the post-playing career stuff. I just think that path would be. So much more fulfilling.

I think I agree as long as we're talking 100 million. Yeah. What if it's 50 million? I'm thinking harder. You know. I still want the hunter, bro. I know. You know what I mean?

I mean, you can do anything with $100 million. Anything. I know. Anything. Yeah. You know, they always say there's like FU money and F everybody money. That's it's everybody money. Maybe not everybody, but, you know, most people.

Yeah. A question from Luca. We had a couple of questions like this one. I knew he was a listener. Yeah, from Luca. Yep. A Chilean in Italy. Oh, Chilean Luca.

Yeah, a Chilean in Italy. Luca says, not much of a question, but more like a comment. I am shocked. Last episode, you guys didn't discuss killing Hayes signing with the Brooklyn Net. Gross. Got to say it had to be waiting

for the whole hour. This is not my email. I did not send this from a burner. Oh my God. Nobody. This is fake. Well, okay. And then there's another question about Chilean guy

named Luca is emailing about Killian Hayes. Get out of my face. And then from Chase, this is a question for you. You could have been a little more discreet. But this is a question. You might be able to fulfill this question.

I have no idea about any of this. Chase says, a wise man once said Killian Hayes was the number one prospect in the 2020 draft. Using your best W.W.E. Paul Hayman impression. Convince me as to why the Brooklyn Nets,

Killian Hayes experiment will work. That's for you, Chris. Because I don't know, I don't know. Paul Hayman. Yeah, Paul Hayman. He used to be Brock Leasner. You know that.

And then he did, now he's got Roman Reigns. I love Paul Heyman, too. You never watch it? He's a guy that goes, my tribal chief, my tribal chief. I looked at up. But I can't really do the impression. I just know that it's like his phrases.

Look, I'm not going to do a Paul Heyman impression because I can't really do it. But killing Hay sucks. Couldn't even make the French team. And they need guards. Yeah, right. Let's get. serious. Our next email is Bruce from Nigeria.

Like, shut up. A question from Jonathan. This is a good follow-up to our Tyos Jones love earlier in the week. Tyos Jones is widely expected that he's going to start for the Suns. Do you think he should be in the starting lineup? But the Sun's too small with Jones, Beale, and Booker? How would that defense even hold up?

we didn't touch on that, did we, really? Okay, the answer is yes, he should be in the starting lineup. I agree. And the second answer is if you're scoring 145 points, which is exactly what Bud knowser is going to try to do and very well might be able to do with that squad, I'm not worried about the defense until we get to the playoffs. To me, they're all offense.

I saw a post earlier today when I woke up this morning, like Yusuf Nurcher is trimmed, I don't know, some weight, and he's shooting he's shooting three like every single day. Nice. Yeah, so I think Nurk is trying to expand his game. I mean, if he doesn't, he'll be out the league pretty soon.

So I think it's good on him to try to expand his game and become a more effective three-point shooter he needs to. So good on him for doing that. Yeah, I just think they look, I look at them as a team. They're not going to be a top 10 defensive team. Can you be middle of the pack? Can you be somewhere between 10 and 20 defensively and then be number one offensively.

That's how I'd look at that team, especially with that roster construction. And I actually think that's a real possibility. I think you could be the number one offense in the league if you're all healthy, especially with Boonehoeffer on the sideline. I think you could be the number one, and the way Durant looks in this team USA

and Booker looks for that matter. I think you could be the number one offense in the league or certainly one of the top few, and then as long as your middle of the pack defense, right, you're in the mix for the West. A question from Joe, long-time listener of the pod. He said he got one of his buddies from Illinois, Alex, into the pod. And he described the pod as, you know, one of them is a die-hard Grizzlies fan to convince his friend Alex to listen to the show.

And he has a question for us. He has some teen USA comments, but he also had a question, a life question. What's something on your bucket list to cross off? For me, I haven't been to Europe yet. I have all outside of the country. I've only been to Toronto and Montreal. I haven't even been to Mexico yet. It's going to Europe.

It's going places in Asia. I want to do some world traveling that I have yet to do you. But that's something next. That's on my bucket list for sure. I hate to copy you. But, and I don't think we've ever talked about this on the pot. I have never been out of the country.

Never. Not even Canada. No. Wow. I've never been out of the United States. I've been to most big cities and many small cities in the United States, but I have never been out of the country. So certainly, I don't think we ever have talked about that. Yeah, that is something for sure on my list and something I intend to do within the next couple of years.

And I would like to go do, right, Rome, Italy, Paris, all that stuff. Of course. You know, I've been invited twice. and I've never gone to the Masters. Wow. And I would love to do that as a supporting event. I would love to do it. Why not this year?

Next to the Masters. Make it happen. I hate to say, I hate, okay. So you know I do the pre and post game? Oh, so that's why the timing of it just doesn't work.

How about this? The two times I have been invited, the two times, we have had a Sunday of the Masters day game. Oh my God. and I should have just taken it off. I should have just said, hey. And I'm sure my bosses would have been understanding,

but it's like literally the last games of the season when it's happened. And so that's why I haven't done it in the past. I very well may do it next year or another time. But yeah, I'd say sporting-wise, I probably, or if I got to play it, I almost would want to play it too, if I could ever get to play that course, that would be that. And Pebble Beach as well. Like, I mean, obviously I play a lot of golf now.

So, I mean, like a lot of the golf stuff comes up on my list. And then certainly going overseas, I would say is on the list of things I would want to do. Something that, you know, if you told me my days were finite, I would want to do them. Because that's what a bucket list is, right? I think traveling overseas, my first time overseas was in 2011 into 2012, and we went to Montreal, Canada, me and me and a bunch of friends. That year, I was stuck in the friend zone with this girl that I really liked, but I was just completely friend zone. I was locked in in the friend zone. I remember one day I was talking to her, I was like, not, like, my friends never want to do anything like big and different. They want to go to the same, like, restaurants, same bars.

It's always like the same. I want to do something different. You know, she's like, why don't you just organize a trip? And I was like, well, nobody would want to come. Like, nobody would want to go. She's like, well, invite all your friends. And if nobody wants to come, go yourself. And like a light bulb went off on my head.

Like, she just said it without missing a beat. Like, well, just go yourself. And I was like, huh, that's true. I should. And so I organize a trip for me. And you said, I love you. And she said, we're just friends, Kevin. Kind of.

That's pretty much how I want, yeah. Yes. When it went in for a kiss, she leans back. But no, she, so she said that. I mean, and I organized a trip to Montreal. And eight of my friends ended up coming with me. So there's nine of us total. And it was an amazing trip. We took a bus from Boston and Montreal.

And it was a great trip. We had an amazing time. It kind of like inspired me to kind of just, you know, not be afraid to do my own thing, to not go to concert alone, not go to the movies alone. Obviously, it's better to have shared experiences, but I think you can't hesitate to take agency over your own life, even if it means doing it alone for something that you want to do.

So that thought just comes to mind when it comes to going to Europe. I think the only two times there was like a, maybe it was like a high school trip. I think it was like a high school spring break. A bunch of people went to Cancun, and my parents wouldn't let me go. And I was absolutely, I mean, I was absolutely dead.

Devastated. Oh, my God. Devastated. They wouldn't let me go. And then the only other time I can remember that it was even a question was, was I covered the NCAA tournament in Detroit, Auburn Hills, in, God, I don't remember what year it was. It was the year that they had Trey Burke and Mitch McGarry and Tim Hardaway, Jr., that team. John B.line was the coach.

That was an unbelievable Michigan team to say the league. But anyways, I was up there covering it. And a group of the sports writers, there's a bunch of, like, younger guys that were there. So many of them are still involved, like Jeff Goodman, Dan Wetzel, who else? Andy Staples, I think, was there. A bunch of guys.

A bunch of guys were there. And at one point, there was a group of them, and they were going to go across the border. There's, like, casinos. Like, if you're in, like, that Auburn Hills, Detroit area, if you go across, there was like some casinos in Canada, and I didn't have a passport. I couldn't go.

Oh, my God. Yeah, that was the only other time. I guess that would have been the other time. It would have been possible that I left the country. Do you have your passport now? I've never had a passport. Oh, wow. How about that?

You should just sign up. I did. I know. It last 10 years, just sign up and have your whole family do it. I know it's annoying. I know. I know. I need to do it.

But just sign up and that'll inspire you. Once you have that passport in your hands, that'll inspire you to. Interestingly enough, my intention last summer was to go to, like, Italy, like to go to Rome, that, that trip, like, because I wanted to see all of that stuff. And, uh, we ended up buying a house and I was like, we're not buying a house and going to Italy. So got put on the back burner. So maybe at some point. I see. And I'm happy we bought the house, but I mean, oh, you know, that trip was going to be

mega expensive too. And I was, I mean, I was buying all new furniture, all kinds of, so I didn't have, I wasn't going to be, I wasn't going to be doing everything. But the house took precedent over a European trip. But I am going to do that. I am going to do that. I'm going to do that at some point. You got to make it happen.

I actually have a buddy over there that went over and he did it for the Olympics. Oh, that's cool. His first time overseas. And he's going to go to like the, the. like the Olympic golf and I think the swimming and something else. But I was like, yeah, that's a super cool trip too to go over there like during the Olympics. Yeah. That'd be fun.

I've never been to the Olympics either. I guess the only chance would have been in, you know, late 90s when it was what, Atlanta? I think that was the last time. But yeah, I think, you know what? You brought it up earlier. I think I'm going to make some plans and go to L.A. next year to check it out. I bet it'll be awesome. Yeah, 2028 coming soon.

Oh, yeah, I mean, next time around. LA will be, yeah, it'll be nice. Next time around. They'll make the city sparkly clean in 2020. It'll be better than that's ever been. Can you already tell about, can you already tell infrastructure-wise? No, I don't know how it's going to work.

But there's nothing yet. There's no like buildings you've seen going up or like any kind of new arena. Like an Olympic experience. Yeah, I don't know. I know like the basketball games. Like, aren't they like an hour outside of Paris? I don't know. There's going to be massive amounts of infrastructure.

in these next four years in L.A. to get ready for it. I mean, they are building like extensions to the trains in certain areas of the city. So that's one thing that they are doing in preparation for 28. If you ever go to like Salt Lake City, all that winter Olympic stuff still there. It's incredible. Yeah. All that stuff still there.

And I think they're getting the winter Olympics. They've already gotten it again. But like if you go to Salt Lake City, you could tell like you could tell they had an Olympics there. It's cool. Anyways, all right, we're going to save the rest of the questions as this summer goes on. You can keep on sending them to NBA Mailbag at gmail.com. NBA mailbag at gmail.com. Thank you to our executive producer Jesse Lopez, as always, and Kevin.

I'll talk to you next week. Have a good week.